‘Viietnam has bright future': HSBC

The study, done between July and September,
says Vietnam , along with Egypt , India , Indonesia , and mainland
China , will be an international powerhouse that will drive world
trade growth through 2025.

Its top five trading partners
are China , the US , Japan , Singapore , and the Republic of
Korea . Trade with all of them will grow in volume terms in the next 15
years.

China will remain the largest partner by value in 2025, increasing from the current 17.9 billion USD to 53.3 billion USD.

Trade is emerging with Switzerland , Egypt , South Africa , and
Saudi Arabia that reflect the importance of commodities to Vietnam 's
trade base – especially in iron and steel with Switzerland and petrol
and oil with Saudi Arabia .

"Vietnam is a major
commodities exporter, especially in crude oil, but has a strongly
developing manufacturing and digital sector opening up with countries
like India and the Philippines (outside the big five partners)," said
Huynh Buu Quang, head of commercial banking at HSBC Bank Vietnam.

Meanwhile Asian trade is envisaged to grow 96 percent to nearly 14
trillion USD by 2025 and will be the key driver of world trade which is
predicted to increase by 73 percent in the same period.

The Vietnam confidence index remains positive, at 115 compared to 116
in first half, ranking seventh in the global confidence index and third
in Asia .

The Index ranges from 0 to 200, with 200 representing the highest confidence, 100 being neutral, and 0 the lowest.

Asian traders report a dip of three index points in line with the views
reported by global traders (-2 index points) from the first half,
indicating that despite indications of long-term growth, traders are
expecting global economic headwinds to impact global trade over the next
six months.

The HSBC Trade Confidence Index reveals that
41 percent of respondents in Asia expect the global economy to decline
within six months, but the vast majority (83 percent) anticipate either
an increase in international trade volumes or consistent levels of
international business activity.

Indonesia is the most
confident market globally, at 144, up 21 from the first half, while
businesses in Singapore (-16), mainland China (-14), and India
(-11) show the largest drops in confidence, revealing a pessimistic
six-month outlook among importers and exporters.

Exchange rate volatility is the top concern for Vietnam 's traders (63 per cent) in the next six months.

The cost of essential services such as shipping, logistics, and storage ranks second with 41 percent. /.